Hardwood Bankirai Fence Panel (Premium) – Slatted – 1800×1800 mm

Hardwood Bankirai Fence Panel (Premium) – Slatted

Put up a premium Bankirai panel and you’ve bought yourself a boundary that will still be standing strong long after softwood fences have warped, greyed and been replaced — twice. Milled from dense tropical Bankirai (Shorea laevis), one of the heaviest and most naturally durable hardwoods used in exterior fencing, these slatted panels combine serious longevity with a warm yellow-brown to deep golden tone that lends real presence to a garden. The clean slat profile throws crisp shadow lines that move with the light through the day, giving you privacy without a heavy, closed-in feel. Stocked in our yard for delivery across Ireland, each 1800×1800 mm panel is a confident, architectural way to define your perimeter.

Why Bankirai?

Bankirai earns its premium for one straightforward reason: it lasts, and then it lasts some more. As a dense tropical hardwood it carries strong natural resistance to rot, decay and insect attack, and it shrugs off the twisting and cupping that ruin cheaper panels. Installed and maintained well, hardwood of this class comfortably outlives the fences around it — so the panel you put up today is one you won’t be replacing in a decade.

It’s also a genuinely handsome timber. Those warm golden-brown tones give a slatted fence a high-end, design-led look that suits contemporary and planted gardens alike. The honest insider note: Bankirai is an oily hardwood and can occasionally weep a little resin or show fine surface checking as it settles — both cosmetic, both entirely normal for a timber of this density, and neither affects its structural life.

Installation guidance

You don’t need to be a joiner to get a clean result. The panels arrive pre-built at 1800×1800 mm, so the bulk of the work is setting your posts square and plumb, then fixing the panels between them — they sit well between 7×7 cm hardwood posts or 10×10 cm concrete posts, secured with corner brackets.

One insider tip worth heeding: Bankirai is genuinely dense and will split if you drive screws in cold. Always pre-drill your fixing points and use stainless steel screws — ordinary fixings can react with the timber’s natural oils and leave dark stains bleeding down the face. Take that one extra step and the panels go up cleanly, with no cracked slats and no rust streaks a season later. Position the panel a few centimetres clear of the ground, too, to add years to its life.

Finishing & maintenance

You have two good options with Bankirai, and there’s no wrong answer. The natural route — leaving the timber untreated to silver gracefully to a soft pewter-grey over the first couple of seasons — is the lowest-effort path and a look many designers actively specify for. The preserved route — holding onto that warm golden-brown colour — takes a little more attention but rewards you with a fence that keeps its character year after year. Most of our customers who choose Bankirai for the colour go the preserved route, because that warmth is half the reason they bought it.

If you preserve it, reach for a UV-resistant hardwood oil rather than a film-forming product. Avoid conventional varnishes and solvent-heavy decking stains on dense tropical hardwoods — they sit on the surface, flake and trap moisture rather than penetrating the grain. We stock the oils that suit Bankirai, so just ask if you’re unsure which to pair with your panels. Whichever route you take, a yearly wash with warm soapy water and a soft brush keeps the slats clean and the shadow lines crisp

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